Thursday Morning Markets: FTSE 100 Rises as FTSE 250 Slides Despite CMC Markets Surge

London is trading firmer on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 up 0.5% even as the FTSE 250 has slipped 0.6%. 

European markets are broadly higher, with the DAX up 0.2%, the CAC 40 gaining 0.6% and the Stoxx 50 climbing 0.6%.

Compass Group led blue-chip risers, rebounding 3.03% after Wednesday’s slide, while Tesco added 2.48% and AstraZeneca gained 2.18% on broad-based buying. 

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Elsewhere, Currys shares initially jumped as much as 2.5% after strong full-year results before easing back to trade around 1% lower.

Baltic Classifieds Group tumbled 7.28% after full-year revenue of €88.5m missed even the lowest analyst forecast, overshadowing a 13% rise in operating profit.

The standout corporate story was in the energy sector, where Genel Energy agreed a $360m all-cash takeover of Edinburgh-based Capricorn Energy, expanding its footprint beyond Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, Polar Capital Technology has clawed back some earlier losses. It was initially down around 3%, giving back some of this week’s gains, before rising to now trade around 1.6% higher.

Elsewhere, Computacenter dipped 1.68% and JD Sports extended its slide in the last week or so, down 1.54%.

In the FTSE 250, CMC Markets surged a further 8.47%, building on Wednesday’s near-42% jump as its trading update continues to draw investor enthusiasm. 

In commodities, gold has moved higher, while oil prices slipped further, extending recent losses. 

Later today, US non-farm payrolls and unemployment data for June will be released, with the consensus expecting a print of 110,000 and an unemployment figure of 4.3%.